EP REVIEW: SINFUL MAGGIE- ‘Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll’ (2019)

Sinful Maggie are back with a new release. A 3-track EP of top quality accordion punk rock’n’roll out of Dorset…yarr!

Sinful Maggie disclaimer: It’s not our fault if you’re too much of a moron to see the irony and humour in this song. It’s not designed to be offensive or derogatory to anyone but the members of the band. That said, feel free to take offence, it’s your right as a human…moron or not.

I thought i better start with that just in case anyone has come to this web site by mistake and gets offended by something in this review. Of course our usual readers are made of much firmer stock and are, I am certain, all blessed with a decent sense of humour. Formed in 2014 Sinful Maggie have, especially within the last eighteen months or so, blazed a path through the English punk scene and for once it is truly deserved. Being based right down in the south-west could easily hamper a band with no ambition but instead they have risen to the challenge and can be found on most weekends rolling up and down the motorways of England to play gigs in every corner of the country.

Sinful Maggie left to right: Charlie Draper– Guitar, Lead Vocals * Briony Ireland– Accordion * Ollie Beaton– Drums * Russ Draper– Bass, Vocals.

One of the things that we must also add at this point is that despite having an accordion player in Briony (who also played in the now defunct Dorset band The Devil’s Rejects who raised the flag for celtic-punk in Dorset) they do not see themselves as a Celtic or Folk-Punk band

“we try and avoid the Celtic punk ‘banner’ if you like. Really we see ourselves more as a punk band that opted for an accordion instead of another guitar. We’re not really influenced by folk or anything like that so we try and avoid it so people aren’t misled”

though that’s not to say we wouldn’t accept them to the Celtic-Punk team!!!

The EP starts with the title song and ‘Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll’ and its full throttle from the start and if you have never heard punk accordion then now is your chance. Charlie’s tuneful though punky vocals keep the music flowing with nods to Rancid and even more ancient ’77 style punk bands.

Now here’s where the disclaimer comes in and I got to admit when I first heard this I couldn’t contain myself and nearly spat me kidneys out laughing! Ask any folky band and they will always tell you that they are labelled ‘Irish’ by people (look at Mumford And Sons for heavens sake!) and and called it in adverts despite being as Irish as Tony Cascarino! ‘We’re Not Fuckin’ Irish’ is the perfect riposte to this and will I hope have you laughing along with them. A great song with some hilarious lyrics and again heads down punk’n’roll that flies past in a fury getting faster and faster. Great stuff. I love this song so much I got the words off them so you can sing along to the video.

I was sitting in a bar
Drinking just after a show
When a guy comes up to me and says
“you kids are far from home
See, I used to live in Dublin
And I’d see bands like yours each night
With tin whistles and accordions
Singing The Rare Auld Times”
Now I sit and listen to him
As polite as I can be
But my anger starts to grow
Somewhat irrationally
My grip grows tighter on my glass
’til I smash it on the floor and scream
We’ re not fuckin’ Irish!
Sling that bastard out the door!

Russ he’s bass player and he’s stubborn as a mule
He’s had many nights out on the town with Guinness as his fuel
I’ve seen him with a broken heart and suffering from shock
When a girl came up after a show and said “I love your Celtic rock”
Briony plays accordion an Irish instrument you’d say
Well actually it’s German from the 19th Century
And yeah she’s got a temper (fuck off)
See? That’s what I mean
So don’t tell her we sound Irish she’ll rip out your fucking spleen

Ollie is our drummer and he’s loves an Irish jig
He wants to wear a scally cap but his heads too fucking big
He loves an Irish whiskey or shamrock in his beer
He was in the British Navy but he swears that he’s not queer
Charlie’s got guitars it’s the talent that he lacks
I can play like Gary Moore if Gary Moore was high on smack
He’s too fat to be Thin Lizzy, too old for teenage kicks
He’s not as bad a Bono but I still think he’s prick

Call us what you want
We’re not fuckin’ Irish
Call us what you will
We’ll tell you what’s true
I ain’t shippin’ up to Boston
Who the hell is Ronnie Drew
We’re still drunken lazy bastards
But we’re English through and through

Now you might think that we’re racist
I assure you that not true
We love those Irish bastards
Honestly we do
They haven’t had it easy
And to their resilience we will toast
But we’re from fuckin’ Bournemouth
That’s in England on the coast

The EP ends with ‘Lazy Is As Lazy Does’ a reggae infused number again with some funny and insightful lyrics and one thing this band is not in need of is a funny bone. A little over halfway through Sinful Maggie decide to kick out the jams as it were and bring the curtain down with what they are best at. Fast 110mph punk rock. Their may only three songs here but at almost fifteen minutes long it shows a band that’s not afraid to stick to two or three minute blazers but experiment with longer songs giving them much more depth both live and on disc.

Released on 2nd august Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll is now available on Amazon, Spotify, i-tunes, Deezer etc pretty much all of them but if anyone would like a physical copy then you should message the band directly through their Facebook page. All the money from the EP is going into a pot to help them record their next album later in the year so lets see some action folks!

Buy Good Enough For Rock’n’Roll  CD– FromTheBand  Download- Amazon 

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